Labor To Protest Fresh Del Monte Cuts

Labor groups in South Florida will protest today at the Coral Gables headquarters of Fresh Del Monte Produce to urge the fruit marketing giant to talk with banana workers unions in Guatemala.

The rally comes after Fresh Del Monte shut down three farms in the town of Morales in Guatemala and contracted out production there -- part of a move to cut its costs amid weak prices for bananas worldwide.

Labor unions in Morales rejected the severance of 900 workers as "illegal" and planned a walkout. Yet before their action, some 200 armed men surrounded union headquarters, forced the organizers to call off the walkout and resign from the union, and threatened to kill the labor leaders if they stayed in town. The trade unionists now are living in Guatemala City, under police protection, said Joan Axthelm of the Chicago-based U.S. Labor Education in the Americas Project, which is helping organize today's protest.

Fresh Del Monte has said that its Guatemala unit was not involved with the Oct. 13 incident. And disputes over severance for Morales workers and alleged violations of Guatemala's labor laws are being handled in Guatemalan court. The company still employs 3,600 people in Guatemala on higher-yield banana farms.

But labor groups say they want Fresh Del Monte to negotiate a solution with unions in Morales, because the company remains a major landholder and buyer in that town.

"Contracting is often a tactic used to bust a union," Axthelm said.

The problems come as banana producers struggle to cut costs because of weak prices and oversupply, linked partly to a trade dispute over European sales that reached the World Trade Organization.

To cut costs, Dole Food recently announced plans to close banana operations in Nicaragua and Venezuela. And Chiquita Brands International said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter loss would be greater than expected, sending its share price to the lowest level in 15 years. It closed at $3.44 on Tuesday, down 63 cents.

Scheduled to participate in today's rally at Fresh Del Monte headquarters are a leader from Guatemala's banana workers union and members of the South Florida AFL-CIO, the biggest U.S. labor group. The protest is scheduled for 4 p.m. at 800 Douglas Entrance, Coral Gables.

Fresh Del Monte is a separate company from DelMonte, which makes canned goods.